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Medical scribe education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Usually, medical scribes don't need a college education. The most common degree for medical scribes is bachelor's degree with 77% graduates, with only 8% medical scribe graduates earning associate degree. Medical scribes who decided to graduate from college often finish University of California, Santa Barbara or University of Central Florida. Some good skills to have in this position include patients, medical terminology and excellent organizational.

Popular medical scribe certifications include Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Medical Assistant, or Basic Life Support for Healthcare and Public Safety (BLS). To improve medical scribe qualification and skills, we prepared some online courses to help in medical scribe education paths.

What education do you need to become a medical scribe?

What degree do you need to be a medical scribe?

The most common degree for medical scribes is bachelor's degree, with 77% of medical scribes earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 8% and associate degree degree at 4%.
  • Bachelor's, 77%
  • Associate, 8%
  • Master's, 4%
  • High School Diploma, 4%
  • Other Degrees, 7%

What should I major in to become a medical scribe?

You should major in biology to become a medical scribe. 37% of medical scribes major in biology. Other common majors for a medical scribe include psychology and biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology.

Best majors for medical scribes

20 best online courses for medical scribes

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1. Medical Emergencies: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation

coursera

In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) assess a basic medical patient 2) describe general pharmacologic principles and the skills associated with medication administration, 3) explain airway physiology, the assessment of the airway and available interventions for airway management, 4) identify, assess and formulate a plan to stabilize a patient with a...

2. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale

coursera

Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...

3. ICD 10 & 11 Medical Coding and Billing

udemy
4.4
(767)

Preparation for Medical Coding Certification Exam...

4. Medical Coding: ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code Training

udemy
4.5
(645)

Learn medical coding and prepare yourself for today's healthcare workplace...

5. Medical Emergencies: CPR, Toxicology, and Wilderness

coursera

In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: (1) Identify the signs and symptoms associated with a patient in shock, to describe the major categories of shock, to assess a patient with signs of shock and formulate a plan for treatment to stabilize the patient for transport, (2) Identify a patient in cardiac arrest and to describe the components of high performance CPR...

6. Trauma Emergencies and Care

coursera

Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...

7. Introduction to Medical Imaging

udemy
4.5
(827)

Your guide to the history, science, math, and economics of medical imaging systems (e.g., X-ray, CT, MRI, Ultrasound)...

8. Medical Terminology

udemy
4.7
(3,688)

Introduction to the meaning of various roots, terms and combining forms that are components of medical words...

9. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

coursera

This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

10. Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff

coursera

Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with...

11. A Specialty Approach to Learning Medical Billing and Coding

udemy
4.6
(352)

Volume One: Medical Hematology...

12. AMCI Introduction to Medical Coding (I2MC) Course

udemy
4.6
(444)

Introduction to Medical Coding (I2MC) Course...

13. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers

coursera

This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...

14. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers

coursera

COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...

15. Medical Device Regulation (MDR): Intro for Device Designers

udemy
4.4
(520)

An introduction to the EU's Medical Device Regulation (MDR) for those involved in developing medical devices...

16. Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 EU regulatory affairs.

udemy
4.3
(764)

Understand regulations for medical devices in simple terms to gain market approval of a medical device in the EU...

17. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children

coursera

Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...

18. Motivational Enhancement Techniques: Working with Patients with Opioid & Substance Use Disorders or High Risk Use MAT Waiver Training S...

coursera

WORKING WITH PATIENTS WITH SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS OR HIGH RISK This optional online course opportunity is made possible through a joint partnership with University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVASOM) and Nursing (SON) and the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP), DATA 2000 sponsor. This content was created by the AAAP and has been used with permission. The course consists of one 1-hour session for healthcare providers who wish to enhance their effectiveness in treating high-risk...

19. HIPAA Compliance Complete Course

udemy
4.4
(3,483)

Protecting Patients and Practices...

20. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative

coursera

Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...

Average medical scribe salary by education level

According to our data, medical scribes with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $34,412 annually. Medical scribes with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $31,689.
Medical scribe education levelMedical scribe salary
Master's Degree$34,412
High School Diploma or Less$31,082
Bachelor's Degree$31,689
Some College/ Associate Degree$31,550

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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